澳洲研制电子内裤 监测老年人尿失禁

An Australian company on Friday announced the rollout of what it said were the world's first electronic underpants, saying its product was able to send text messages if the wearer became incontinent.

Designed for the elderly and infirm, the SIMsystem will be used in homes for the aged across New South Wales state to monitor incontinence after successful trials in Victoria, the company Simavita said.

"Incontinence management is a key area in which innovative technologies can benefit aged care," said chief executive Philippa Lewis.

"We developed SIMsystem to provide greater comfort and dignity to the elderly while aiming to significantly lower costs for aged care facilities."

Simavita said its underpants have a disposable element similar to a regular incontinence pad and include a detachable transmitter that relays readings from the pad's sensor strip over a wireless network to a central computer.

Alerts are sent via text message or over the institution's paging system.

More than 90 percent of Australians living in elderly care facilities are believed to suffer from incontinence - a problem that currently requires staff to carry out frequent manual checks throughout the day.

澳大利亚一家公司上周五宣布，该公司研制出世界上首款电子内裤，并介绍这款电子内裤在使用者失禁时能及时发送文字信息。

Simavita公司称，这款“SIM系统内裤”专为年老体弱者设计，在维多利亚州的产品测试成功后将在新南威尔士州的养老院推广使用，用于老年人的失禁监控。

该公司首席执行官菲利帕•刘易斯说：“失禁处理是创新技术惠及老年护理的一个重要领域。”

“我们研发SIM系统内裤是为了为老年人提供舒适和尊严，同时使老年护理机构的成本得到大幅度降低。”

Simavita公司称，这款电子内裤内置有类似于普通失禁垫的一次性元件。此外，内裤中还装有一个可拆卸的传送器，可将从失禁垫传感带上读取的信息通过无线网络发送至中央计算机。

失禁警报通过文字信息或养老院的传呼系统发送出去。

据悉，生活在澳大利亚养老院中超过90%的老年人受到失禁的困扰，目前仍需要护理人员每天不停地进行手动检查。

Vocabulary:

rollout: the first public showing of an aircraft（首次展示）

incontinent: unable to restrain natural discharges or evacuations of urine or feces（失禁的）

home: an institution for the homeless, sick, etc.（养老院）

paging system: 寻呼系统，传呼系统